Target group

Children ages 4-10

Topic

Self-assertion, challenging stereotypes, fighting, bullying and peer pressure, toxic masculinity

Time required

One double lesson (…or more)

Description

This educational idea is based on the picture book Bist du feige, Willi Wiberg? by Gunilla Bergström (Oetinger Verlag 1987, approx. 28 pages; CID shelfmark: ML 0 BER1), which can be borrowed from the CID. A short description of this story, along with other recommended books on discrimination, can be found in the bibliography of Kinderwelten Bücherlist 2023, pg 90: https://situationsansatz.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Buecher-fuer-Kinder-von-3-bis-6-Jahren.pdf.

Story and Context

Six-year-old Willi Wiberg doesn’t like to fight and doesn’t do so. If someone wants to fight with him, he just gives up right away. The other children say that it must be because he isn’t strong. But Willi is actually very strong: for example, he can carry very heavy bags and break tree branches easily. What’s more, his father tells him, “You have to be able to defend yourself,” but his grandma says “You should always be nice.” Is Willi a coward?

One day, when a few new children at the kindergarten attack Willi, he shows great strength: he admits to them that he is afraid to fight. By saying what he really thought and felt, he showed great courage and won the admiration of the other children.

This story picks up on something that is very important for children: the evaluation of behaviour – specifically, of behaviour between children and the behavior of adults as “educators”. What is “strength” and what is “weakness”? Can strength only be measured with fists or by the amount of fear it causes in those who are threatened or bullied with hurtful words? Or can vulnerability be a strength?

These questions and the feelings they evoke are fundamental if children are to learn to 1) understand their own perspective and 2) have respect for the situation of others. In this way,  children develop their ability to communicate and cooperate with each other.

A note for educators: Fights at school are often stereotypically attributed to boys. Although the picture book shows more boys taking part in the fights, girls are also depicted. This enables an opportunity to discuss fights and bullying behaviour with the children in a way that goes beyond stereotypes. The children may even pick up on this themselves, allowing you to facilitate this discussion further.

Teaching Suggestions:

1. Small group discussion questions

The book is short and written in simple language. There are many ways to work with the story at home or in an active learning classroom environment, including reading aloud, group discussion, role-playing, and think-pair-share.
This book can also help to talk to children when fights and arguments in kindergarten, school, or within the family become more frequent.
Get started with your teaching by choosing from one of the following activities, or get inspired to make your own!

The following are possible discussion questions that can be facilitated into the conversation to create learner engagement:

• In the story, the children fight in the street and at nursery school. The adults watch fights on television. Where have you seen fights?
• What do you do if a fight or argument breaks out?
• Willi has a trick. What’s his trick when it comes to a fight? Do you think it will work?
• Why do some people like to fight? Are those who win always the strongest ones?
• Grandma says that Willi is nice because he doesn’t fight. Willi doesn’t think he’s nice, “He just doesn’t want to fight.” Is it sometimes good to not be nice? To fight back? Is that possible without fighting?
• How does Willi Wiberg defend himself when the children want to fight with him? Why is this considered “brave”?
• Why does Willi’s dad say that Willi should learn to fight? And what does he mean at the very end?

2. Illustrative activity

Show the children pages 6 and 7 so that they can see the book’s depiction of how strong Willi is. Then, read again from pages 26-28 so that the children can hear how the book describes bravery. Explain that the book shows different ways a person could be strong and brave. Finally, ask that the children draw their own picture of what it means to be strong and/or brave.

3. Role-play activity

Have the children become actors and re-enact the last scene in the kindergarten.

Roles:

– the children who already know Willi and know that he doesn’t want to fight,
– the new children who want to fight Willi,
– and, of course, Willi!

When the scene is done, have the children discuss how it felt. Ideally, the roles are swapped a few times so that the children can experience different perspectives.

You can also use an argument similar to one that the children have had in the past. Tell them the different roles and the context of the argument. Tell them to see whether it works to choose not to fight or to refrain from the verbal argument. You can also ask them what other ways they could avoid or stop a verbal argument and write them down!

End with a Summary and Next Steps

It’s important to repeat the main message at the end of your lesson and activity. This helps young minds to remember this for the future. We also want to give something actionable (or some next steps) for the children to do to help stay accountable. We recommend the following:

Have the group decide on a set of rules describing what should happen when arguments and fights occur. It’s important to have this be a collaborative and agreed-upon set of rules; this helps to get commitment from your learners.